"Let us begin, for up to now we have done nothing." St. Francis of Assisi
It's with some misgivings that I launch this blog. Our world is plagued by too much noise, by too many people speaking and too few listening. I, of all people, am not exempt from this but I feel the need to join my voice to those who seek to bring reasoned and respectful conversation to a medium that is long on sound bites and name calling.
As the title states, this will be an occasional blog. This is for two reasons. The first is to honor the commitment to reasoned and respectful conversation. My paternal grandfather had a saying- "Be sure your brain is engaged before putting your mouth in gear." Posts that are required to meet a deadline could lead to sloppy thinking and rushed and therefore "off the cuff" writing. I want to avoid this temptation at all costs.
The second reason is that I have other obligations that need to take priority and I am decidedly not a workaholic.
In writing I intend as much as possible to avoid pigeonholing people or ideas. Labels like "Conservative", "Liberal", "Capitalist", "Socialist" and the like more often than not act as red flags to inhibit thought and stifle discourse. The truth is that we can only avoid or mitigate disaster if we remember that those who see things differently from us are also human beings and that while objective truth exists none of us are privy to more than a glimpse of it.
To close this post I'd like to adopt this prayer of St. Thomas Aquinas as a dedication:
"Inspire the beginning, guide the progress, complete the ending."
